


2083 Days

by moodyvalentinestories (moodyvalentine)



Series: Choices September Challenge: 2019 [7]
Category: Hollywood U: Rising Star, Red Carpet Diaries (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-11 18:36:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20550809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moodyvalentine/pseuds/moodyvalentinestories
Summary: Hunt receives an invitation to a wedding he'd rather not attend.





	2083 Days

**Author's Note:**

> Remember Anna? This is her now. Feel old yet?
> 
> (I know, it's just two days later IRL. Shhhhh.)
> 
> Also... what the actual fuck was I thinking when I wrote this? I don't even have the excuse of 'I wrote this at 5 AM and I'm tired' this time.

Two thousand and eighty-three days. It had been two thousand and eighty-three days since he'd last seen her. And still, Thomas remembered that night like it had been just yesterday. He still remembered _her_. Anna.

Granted, that wasn't all too surprising. Even if he'd wanted to forget about her -- which he, after only months of pretending he did, admitted that he didn't -- he couldn't have. Not with her face plastered all over town. On the billboards, he drove by on his way to work, movie posters when he went to the theatre, and the covers of magazines -- both fashion and gossip -- whenever he passed a newsstand. There was no escaping her.

The peculiar thing, though, was that he could always tell exactly which parts of her face had been edited and which parts were truly hers. Because, even if he hadn't seen her face anywhere all these years, he would have remembered. Its details were etched into his brain and they wouldn't ever go away.

Now here he was, looking at the lilac envelope that had his address written on the back in her perfect handwriting. He knew very well what was inside. Though he wasn't usually interested in Hollywood gossip, he'd always listened intently when her name came up. He wished he hadn't.

He didn't have the right to be angry. He didn't have the right to be jealous. After all, he'd been the one who left. But he couldn't help it. Knowing it was that airhead of an actor, Chadley Fortnum, made it all the worse.

It should have been him, getting down on one knee before her. It should have been him, picking out that violet-scented paper for the invitations. It should have been him, who would wait at the end of the aisle. _It should have been him_.

He _was_ angry. And maybe he _did_ have a right to be. After all, how dare she --_ how dare she!_ \-- send him an invitation! She'd known how he felt about her. She'd always made sure he knew that she knew.

This invitation wasn't a gesture of goodwill. It was her trying to get back at him for what he'd done to her. He was sure of it.

When he'd fished the invitation out of his mailbox earlier, he was going to throw it right in the trash. He didn't _want_ to go. But not showing his face would mean she won. And he wasn't going to let her win.

So, a little over three months later -- six years, _to the day_, after that godforsaken dinner party -- he drove up to Big Bear Lake. Anna's wedding.

He'd known it was a bad idea the second he'd decided to go. He wouldn't like what he'd see. Nonetheless, he had to be there. Not just because he wasn't going to back down, though that certainly played a part in it, but because he had to see her. If not for his own selfish reasons, then at least to make sure that she was happy.

As he pulled up to the parking lot, he was surprised by the number of cars he saw. He shouldn't have been, of course. Both Anna and Chadley were big names in the industry. They were sure to have a lot of contacts that would have been quite unhappy if they hadn't received an invitation.

For a moment, he wondered if he'd taken up the spot of someone who would have actually wanted to be there. The thought almost made him smile.

He sat in his car for a few minutes more before he finally decided to go find the other guests -- and his seat. He wondered whether she'd have him sit in the front, just to torment him, or in the back, to insult him. He wasn't sure which he'd find worse.

Maybe she'd assigned him a seat in the middle. Among the people she neither particularly liked nor cared about. That, he decided, would be the worst option. Which was exactly the reason why she would have chosen it.

As he walked towards the area where the ceremony would be held, he passed a cabin with the door slightly ajar and stopped in his tracks. Through the crack, he could see _her_. She looked... she looked absolutely breathtaking. Of course she would. This was her wedding day, after all.

Once again, Thomas wished himself to be her groom. But, of course, that was selfish of him. She already had a groom that she would marry within the next two hours.

But before he could keep walking, her eyes met his through the crack of the door. She said something to the woman helping her with the veil, who then quickly disappeared.

_Leave,_ he thought. _Now. Before it's too late._

But it was already too late. Anna had got up from her chair and walked to the door, her face twisted in anger.

"You," she boomed as she opened the door. "How dare you show up here!"

If she hadn't been so intimidating, he would have felt triumphant. "If I'm not mistaken, you invited me."

She took a look around, then motioned for him to come inside. He hesitated for a moment but then decided to comply. As it had always been, he wanted -- needed -- to know what she would say. He had no doubt it would be something he wouldn't want to hear. But he always had a comeback. He always knew exactly how to answer.

Just not now. Because nothing could have prepared him for what she said once she'd closed the door behind them.

"You weren't on my guest list." She shook her head. "You were on Chadley's."

No. No, that was... entirely impossible. Thomas didn't even know the man!

"_Chadley_?" he asked in disgust.

She sighed. "His manager found out we knew each other and thought having you attend would be good for us. I never thought you'd come."

"And you expect me to believe that?"

"Thomas," she said softly. He couldn't help that his heart started beating faster as he heard her say his name. "Look around you. Does this seem like the wedding I would want?"

For just a split second, he was confused. If she hadn't wanted this, then why was she even here? She was never one to keep her opinions to herself. Then he realised.

The many guests. The lavish decorations he'd seen, even from afar. The amount of press coverage they had gotten. He should have figured it out much early.

"It's all for show," he said, his mouth falling open. "It's a publicity stunt."

She looked at the ground. "I know you're going to tell me how I'm failing you. How I'm turning into the exact person you warned me not to be. But, I'm begging you, just keep your thoughts to yourself."

"No," he said firmly. "I'm not going to keep my thoughts to myself."

How could she do this? After everything he'd thought her about staying true to herself? About keeping her morals in a world full of succubi?

"Thomas, please," she whispered, still avoiding his gaze. "I have my reasons."

What reasons could she possibly have to justify this? "Oh, you do? Enlighten me. Is it to further your career? To promote that idiotic film you're working on together?"

"You can go fuck yourself," she said, finally looking at him. "You have _no right_ to judge me. You're no longer my professor. Haven't been for a long time."

There was more hurt in that statement than she would ever care to admit, Thomas knew that. She'd only graduated two years ago. Had he not resigned... had he not left... he would have had so much more time with her.

"So you're just going to ignore everything I taught you, then?" he asked. "You think you know better? You're still young, Anna. And naïve."

She narrowed her eyes. "Fine. Do you want to know why I'm okay with this now? Marrying someone I don't even love for publicity?"

"Yes," he exclaimed. "Yes, I _do_ want to know. That is why I _asked_."

Always so infuriating. Always, even after such a long time, able to get a rise out of him.

"It's because it doesn't matter anymore," she said, very quietly.

Thomas didn't understand. "Why?"

"For someone who claims to be oh-so-smart, you're an absolute idiot," she huffed. "It's because of you."

Because of him? That made no sense. This... this was the last thing he wanted for her. "I don't follow."

"I've realised that I'm never getting over you. So if I don't have a shot at happiness, why not at least do something that'll help me in the long run."

Something in his brain must've malfunctioned. Because after processing that confession, he did the unthinkable. He took her face in his hands and pressed her lips to his. And for a moment, just a moment, everything was right in the world. She kissed him back just as fervently and he knew, with absolute certainty, that she had been right. There was no getting over each other. Not for them.

Then, after much too short an amount of time, she pushed him away. And he realised that he had just kissed a bride that wasn't his on her wedding day. Granted, it was a bride that didn't love her groom, but that didn't make it much better. As right as it may have felt, it was wrong.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"No," she said, her voice low, almost animalistic. "You don't get to be sorry. Not about this."

Before he could even reply, she'd pushed him further, until his back hit the wall. 

"You don't get to show up to _my_ wedding, make me _tell you_ how I feel and then regret it. You're either all in or you're out," she said. "This is your last chance, Hunt. Choose wisely."

It wasn't a choice. It never had been. Not with her. Not with _Anna_.

"I'm all in," he said hoarsely.

And in an instant, her lips were back on his.

Despite his usually more careful and rational self, Thomas found that he didn't give a care in the world what would happen to the guests outside or even the groom. And he had a sneaking suspicion that Anna didn't either.


End file.
